Padres fire Jayce Tingler after second-half collapse

Jayce Tingler of the San Diego Padres finished second in National League Manager of the Year voting for the pandemic-shortened 2020 season after he guided the club to its first playoff appearance since 2006 in his first year in charge. 

Roughly 11 months later, the Padres have relieved Tingler of his duties. 

Per AJ Cassavell of the MLB website, the Padres fired Tingler on Wednesday after the club finished a disappointing 2021 campaign at 79-83 following a second-half collapse that saw San Diego post the league's worst record from Aug. 11 through the end of the regular season. Tingler had one season remaining on a three-year contract. 

"Jayce accomplished a great deal in his two seasons with the Padres, leading our team through an unprecedented pandemic and into the postseason for the first time in 15 years," Padres general manager A.J. Preller said in the official release. "I have tremendous respect for him as a coach, colleague and friend. After much thought and consideration over the last several weeks, we felt change was necessary at this time to ultimately reach our championship potential in San Diego." 

The downfall of the 2021 Padres was summarized perfectly by an in-the-dugout spat between Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado last month as the team was plummeting down the standings and out of the wild-card race. 

Tingler was offered an opportunity to remain with the organization in a different role, but it's unknown if he plans to accept it. The Padres, meanwhile, should be set to contend for at least a playoff berth next year and, thus, now have one of the league's hottest openings for would-be skippers.